


roses, thorns and worker bees

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Hugs, M/M, Supportive Lance (Voltron), probably gonna add a smut chapter to this, we will see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-09 23:49:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13492395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Roses. He smelled of roses.Roses and cinnamon and the beach and hot cocoa and dahlias and cologne and..Keith loved that about Lance.





	roses, thorns and worker bees

 

Roses. He smelled of roses.

_Roses and cinnamon and the beach and hot cocoa and dahlias and cologne and.._

Keith didn't smell anything like that. The guy couldn't even get himself to bathe most days. He's pretty sure he's been eating so much junk and drinking so much bad-space-coffee that his breath could only hope to smell as good as Lance's.

And, on the subject of Lance, fuck that guy. Fuck him in all of his beautiful-oceanic-prince lookin' glory. Even while he was fighting dirty, there wasn't a spot on him. It wasn't fair that he could look like the actual personification of an adorable puppy while Keith well, was Keith. Rough on the edges, bruised hands, and achy all over. He was a walking disaster, not even a hot one. Not fair at all.

His anger didn't actually subside for the massive crush he'd developed on Lance. It made it worse actually. Oh, nothing could beat the thorny sting of how he missed the smell of Lance when he left though.

It wasn't even obvious to him at first. When he dedicated his time fully to the Blade of Mamora, it was training, training and more training. Mission after mission, no time to think. Keith's mind was set on retrieving information and protecting the ones he had. All dirty work, all the time.

Keith was always praised for being a good worker bee; he followed his instruction (most of the time) and got the job done. However, only a few people realize that he would overwork himself like a wood whiddler; he would get good results after sacrificing his mind and effort for it.

But after a long time, he would break. Like glass, it would happen with a single tap that spreads like branches. Lance was the tap. It wasn't even a conscious thought; instead the memory was brought on in the middle of a fight. While Keith's fists twisted in combat and slammed down against the enemy, that stupidly pretty Cuban boy's face intruded into his mind.

_"We do make a good team."_

That was the last thought before he swiftly got his lights punched out.

* * *

 

When he woke up, Keith was staring at a pale ceiling. His hands- no, his whole body ached and he could feel the actual bruise forming on his cheek. He hurt bad, and half of him just wanted to go back to sleep.

Then he realized, this wasn't his Mamora bunk at all. Shit, great, yeah. All he needed was to be a hostage. No actually, this was possible to get out of. It was Kolivan's lecture and chewing out was what he needed to fear.

His spine feels like its being ripped out of his body when he rises up. Keith goes back to draw his blade which- was gone? Missing from its shealth. Actually, his whole belt was gone, along with his jumpsuit. The enemy took his shirt but left him with his tights, luckily. Nice, okay.  
  


The tight-clothed legs swung over the side of the mattress he was laying on and his hands tossled with his jet black mullet. Keith's heart tumbled as he moved to the door, which seemingly opened on its own, leading to a pale beige hallway. His mind, though disoriented, managed to force his body to travel a good few steps before slumping slowly against the wall.

"Hey, man. Does your face hurt?" There was a pregnant pause as Keith tilted his head forward to listen to the voice. "'Cause it's killing me."

"Shut it, Lance." The response came out before Keith even realized he was speaking.

Ocean blue eyes matched his and suddenly, overwhelmingly: roses, and cinnamon and the beach and hot cocoa and dahlias and colonge and..Lance.

* * *

 

"The enemy ship you all were infiltrating called for back up in the least opportune time. Lotor's fleet was storming with Galra operatives enough that Allura picked it up on the ship's radar," Lance had explained, snuggled right next to Keith and sipping his space-hot cocoa. "And you're lucky too, because if Allura hadn't seen it you Blade guys would've been in a hell of a lotta trouble."

Keith was snug, sitting in the lounge room. The once foreign ship was now found to be the Castle, and he was partially disappointed that he couldn't even recognize his own bunker when he saw it. Certainly he couldn't have been that long, right?

"You're telling me," Keith replied with a slight crack of a smile. "You have any idea where Kolivan's group is?"

Lance nodded, slowly and hesitantly. "I don't know all the details but Kolivan is definitely still alive. He signaled us and asked for help after the fight to find members of the Mamora that were spread across the ship. Shiro insisted that I come back here with you and get you in a healing pod, since the fight itself was over, while he and the rest of the team explore the ship. "

Keith's eyes narrowed and he raised an eyebrow. "If that's the case, why do I still feel like I've been run over by a freight train three times over?"

His company gave him a goofy grin, and Keith felt pinched by thorns all over. Damn this guy, he missed him so much but he still made him wish that the freight train hit him a fourth time. There was only so much he can take.

"Welllll, everyone, including Coran, is out of the ship so your boy Lance in charge," Lance poined to himself with his thumb. "However, the boy in charge doesn't exactly know how to read Altean manuals, so I decided that you gotta suffer through the pain for a while."

Keith grunted and tipped his back into the couch more comfortably. "Gee thanks, bud."

The silence after that was quiet enough to hear the gears turning in both paladins' minds. The elephant in the room couldn't be more obvious.

"You know, Keith, I'm glad you're doing all your Blade stuff and all that..The suit is cool and the guys seem really cool but..." Lance's hand goes to rub his own neck. "I miss you, sometimes."

"Sometimes," Keith repeated before chuckling to himself. "Oh, Lance, sometimes I think I miss you too."

"You think, yeah, okay," Lance snorted halfheartedly, reaching his hand out to reach Keith's. "No but seriously, Kogane, it's sad as hell without your emo ass here." His hand slyly pressed right into Keith's palm, holding it.

Oh.

_Oh._

This was new.

"Say, why don't we make up for lost time?" Keith's mouth worked faster than his brain, then he immediately retracted his hand to cover his mouth. "Oh god, wait no that sounded _way_   worse--"

"That sounds good to me, Kogane," Lance smoothly replied, a hand trailing back behind the samurai's waist. "Let me show you how much I missed you," Lance paused for a minute, snaking his hand back to his own side. He gave him a genuine smile and a pat on the shoulder, "But, later, okay? You're too beat up right now. You need to rest."

Keith's hand balled up into a fist and he sighed. Yes, he did want to be with Lance right now but he was right. He needed to sleep the pain off and get formulated with the team again before he could have any personal endeavors. Voltron's fight against Lotor's army was much more important.

Lance was weird, he was different. Much less goofy and more lovey-dovey than he was used to. Maybe it was the air or something but he was more caring than Keith would ever see him admit. The sharpshooter ended up walking him to his room even, something Lance would never normally do. But he liked it. He really liked it.

* * *

  
The meeting table in the Castle's living area felt cold and metal on Keith's warm hands. Keith himself really wanted to be back in bed and not being stared down by his friends and Blade of Mamora co-workers.

They were talking strategy, figuring how to advance in technology and undercover operatives to defend themselves against the Galra and to rescue more of the hostages being kept. Keith of course, was furious about the battles and lives being taken over war but right now his mind was thinking about a certain sharpshooter.

In the back, behind the group of Kolvian's men is Lance, twiddling his fingers and barely paying attention. Things usually weren't so serious around here, there was tension in the air but Lance looked perfectly relaxed.

He was wearing those dumb Altean PJ's that looked pretty ridiculous to put it lightly. They were loose, but somehow Lance managed to pull them off fashionably. Fuck that guy.

"Keith," he heard his name being called and snapped out of his daze to look up at Kolvian blinking at him. "Are you listening?"

"Yes, sir," the paladin warrior snapped his head up at attention. "Continue, please."

"As I was saying, we should try again to infiltrate Galra territory, and Keith's half-Galra blood will help him blend into the audience Lotor is appeals to. Our techs can formulate a suit, plant Keith inside one of the ships, and turn this mission inside out," the Galra man explained.

It was hard to respond, but Keith was just too fucking tired to care. "You realize I'll die if I go in there," he sneered halfheartedly into his wrist. "Lotor won't take kindly to a Paladin being on his ship, and even if I don't die I'd be held hostage to be pawned off to you all." Keith scratched his arm and raised his chin, staring at the back of the room. "Is that worth it? I'd rather die in a fight than die in a rotten cell, in vain. Come on."

The tension in the air could be cut with a butter knife. A few breaths hitched and Keith looked down ashamedly. He shouldn't have gone that far, but it's only honest. "Keith.." He could hear Shiro start to comfort him but he flinched back when Keith stood up.

"I'm going to my room, let me know the plan when you're done." Keith's raven-hair swished as he paced behind the long-table and down the hall. It was quieter when he was alone, giving him time to think.  
Sure, he was a warrior. But he was still young, and it still hurt to even think about rotting in the enemy cell, alone. Forever.

Keith wasn't strong enough for that.

* * *

There was a knock on the door all of a sudden.

"Hey, man," that familiar voice trailed into the room when the door opened. "Are...Are you crying?"

Lance's form suddenly hovered over him and he looked up almost pleadingly. Keith hadn't even the noticed the tears streaming down his cheeks. "I...I didn't, shit dude," he was wiping the tears off himself. "I don't cry usually, it's just.."

"The stress?"

Ocean blue eyes traveled down to reach Keith's dark ones. Lance was kneeling to meet his level, still in those stupid pajamas. Keith felt like he wanted to laugh, cry and punch something all at the same time.

"I get it, man, you have the whole world- no, the whole universe on your shoulders and I understand that," Lance's hand was placed on Keith's shoulder. "You're worth more than rotting in a cell, Kogane. You should know that." A sigh followed after it.

"We came to the decision that you should take a few weeks to rest. The Blade'll be fine and Voltron will be fine. Its important to us that you're in top health." Lance's voice then softened. "You're important to me, too. You _deserve_ rest, Keith."

It's been so long since someone took the time to say that. Sometimes, he's too caught up in the saving-all-of-space stuff. But he'd never..he'd never expect Lance to even say something like that. He didn't think anyone could be that selfless towards him. Besides, Lance had his own shit going on and Keith just up and left in hopes to make things better but it just feels like he made everything worse and-

Keith inhaled, very slowly. Then exhaled. "Can..I just..Can I hug you, please?"

"You didn't have to ask, dumbass." Lance's arms felt like it was the most comforting thing in the world. The embrace lasted a good while, enough for Keith to calm down.

But, roses. The smell hit him; it was roses and cinnamon and the beach and hot cocoa and dahlias and cologne.

And it was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> hi so this was just a lil thingy i wanted to write since im sick and lowkey dying BUT i enjoy these boys. i enjoy them quite much so i hope you like this! thank you for reading and thank you for any kudos, bookmarks or comments you wish to give! i'm thinking about giving this a much shorter smut chapter but let me know if you'd want that or not!! <3 feel free to talk to me on tumblr @crowfood !


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